Support pin arrangement determination assisting method

ABSTRACT

A support pin arrangement determination assisting method includes displaying an image including a board image that indicates a shape and an arrangement of an already mounted component on the already mounted surface; inputting an arrangement position of the support pin to the displayed image; and displaying a composite image in which a pin arrangement image indicating the input arrangement position is superimposed on the board image. A planar image of the support pin in the pin arrangement image includes an image of a top portion of a shaft and an image of a contact portion which is located on a tip side of the top portion, which has a sectional shape smaller than that of the top portion, and which contacts and supports a lower surface of the board.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/764, 096 filedJul. 28, 2015, which is the national phase of PCT/JP2014/000466 filedJan. 29, 2014, which claims the benefit of Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2013-015079 filed Jan. 30, 2013, and Japanese Patent Application No.2013-015080, filed Jan. 30, 2013, and Japanese Patent Application No.2013-016523, filed Jan. 31, 2013, each of which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a support pin arrangement determinationassisting apparatus and support pin arrangement determination assistingmethod, for assisting the determination of an arrangement of support apin that supports a board in an electronic component mounting machine.

BACKGROUND

Support pin methods in which a board is supported by bringing pluralsupport pins into contact with a lower surface are employed widely asboard support methods for supporting a board from a lower side incomponent mounting processes of mounting electronic components on aboard. In such support pin methods, in the case where there are alreadymounted components that have already been mounted on the lower side of aboard in a preceding process, it is necessary to determine anarrangement of support pins by selecting locations that enablesupporting (supportable positions) without causing positionalinterference with the already mounted components. The determination ofan arrangement of support pins is done in such a manner that an operatorobserves the arrangement of electronic components on an already mountedsurface at a manufacturing site and thereby finds supportable locations.Various kinds of assisting apparatus have come to be employed tofacilitate this pin arrangement work (refer to Patent Document 1, forexample). In the related art technique disclosed in this PatentDocument, an image of an already mounted surface and an image indicatingthe arrangement of pin holes where support pins are disposed aredisplayed in superimposition to enable a visual check as tooccurrence/non-occurrence of interference between the support pins andthe already mounted components.

Related Art Documents Patent Documents

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2008-211051

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

In recent years, with the increase of mounting densities due to theminiaturization of electronic apparatus, it have become necessary to setan arrangement of support pins for a mounting board more precisely.However, the related art including the technique disclosed in theabove-mentioned Patent Document merely shows two-dimensional positionsof support pins on an already mounted surface. It is therefore difficultto recognize the details of a portion where a tip portion of eachsupport pin contacts a board. As a result, in a case in which a highmounting density board that imposes strict restrictions on supportablelocations is to be dealt with, it takes time and labor to checkoccurrence/non-occurrence of interference in work of determining anarrangement of support pins. Therefore, there is a need of developmentof an assisting function which can provide more precise judgment onoccurrence/non-occurrence of interference between support pins andalready mounted components.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide asupport pin arrangement determination assisting apparatus and a supportpin arrangement determination assisting method which can judgeoccurrence/non-occurrence of interference between a support pin and analready mounted component more precisely in work of determining anarrangement of support pin for a high mounting density board.

Means for Solving the Problem

According to the present invention, there is provided a support pinarrangement determination assisting apparatus which assistsdetermination of an arrangement of a support pin that supports analready mounted surface of a board from a lower side in a board holdingunit of an electronic component mounting machine, the support pinarrangement determination assisting apparatus including: display meanswhich displays an image including a board image that indicates a shapeand an arrangement of an already mounted component on the alreadymounted surface; a position input unit through which an arrangementposition of the support pin is input to the displayed image; and a pinimage display processing unit which causes the display means to displaya composite image in which a pin arrangement image indicating the inputarrangement position is superimposed on the board image, wherein aplanar image of the support pin in the pin arrangement image includes animage of a top portion of a shaft erected in the board holding unit andan image of a contact portion which is located on a tip side of the topportion, which has a sectional shape smaller than that of the topportion, and which contacts and supports a lower surface of the board.

According to the present invention, there is provided a support pinarrangement determination assisting method for assisting thedetermination of an arrangement of a support pin that supports analready mounted surface of a board from a lower side in a board holdingunit of an electronic component mounting machine, the support pinarrangement determination assisting method including: a display step ofdisplaying an image including a board image that indicates a shape andan arrangement of an already mounted component on the already mountedsurface; a position input step of inputting an arrangement position ofthe support pin to the displayed image; and a pin image displayprocessing step of causing display means to display a composite image inwhich a pin arrangement image indicating the input arrangement positionis superimposed on the board image, wherein a planar image of thesupport pin in the pin arrangement image includes an image of a topportion of a shaft erected in the board holding unit and an image of acontact portion which is located on a tip side of the top portion, whichhas a sectional shape smaller than that of the top portion, and whichcontacts and supports a lower surface of the board.

Advantages of the Invention

According to the invention, in determining an arrangement of the supportpin for supporting the already mounted surface of a board from the lowerside in the board holding unit, the image including the board imageindicating shapes and an arrangement of an already mounted component onthe already mounted surface is displayed, the arrangement position ofthe support pin is input to the displayed image, and the composite imagein which a pin arrangement image indicating the input arrangementposition is superimposed on the board image is displayed. The planarimage of the support pin in the pin arrangement image is made to includethe image of the contact portion which has a sectional shape smallerthan that of the shaft and which contacts and supports the lower side ofthe board. As a result, in support pin arrangement determining work fora high mounting density board, occurrence/non-occurrence of interferencebetween the support pin and the already mounted component can be judgedmore precisely.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of an electroniccomponent mounting machine according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the configurations of a board conveyingmechanism and a board support mechanism of the electronic componentmounting machine according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a board positioning method of a board holdingunit of the electronic component mounting machine according to theembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the configuration of the board supportmechanism of the board holding unit of the electronic component mountingmachine according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a board as a work subject of the electroniccomponent mounting machine according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate the structure of each support pin modulewhich is used in the board support mechanism of the electronic componentmounting machine according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate the functions of each support pin module ofthe board holding unit of the electronic component mounting machineaccording to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control systemof an electronic component mounting system that includes the electroniccomponent mounting machine according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate component data and support pin data used in theelectronic component mounting machine according to the embodiment of theinvention.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate a support pin arrangement determinationassisting method in the electronic component mounting machine accordingto the embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 11A-11C also illustrate the support pin arrangement determinationassisting method in the electronic component mounting machine accordingto the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the support pin arrangement determinationassisting method in the electronic component mounting machine accordingto the embodiment of the invention.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration of anelectronic component mounting machine 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 1. The electronic component mounting machine 1 has a function ofholding an electronic component with an absorption nozzle that isattached to a mounting head and mounting it on a board, and constitutesan electronic component mounting system together with a host system 15and other machines connected to it via a communication network 16.

As shown in FIG. 1, a board conveying mechanism 2 for conveyance in theX direction (board conveying direction) is disposed at the center in abase stage 1 a. The board conveying mechanism 2 has functions ofconveying a board 3 that has been carried in from the upstream side andpositioning it at a mounting work position of a component mountingmechanism (described later), and has two conveyance rails 2 a which arearranged parallel with each other. The board conveying mechanism 2 isequipped, at the center, with a board support mechanism 2 c forsupporting a board 3 that has been carried in and presser members 2 bfor clamping the board 3 that has been lifted up by the board supportmechanism 2 c by pressing, from above, its two side end portions thatare opposed to each other.

Component supply units 4 for supplying electronic components to bemounted are disposed on the two respective sides of the board conveyingmechanism 2. In each component supply unit 4, plural tape feeders 5 arearranged parallel with each other and each tape feeder 5 has a functionof pitch-feeding components that are held by a carrier tape to a pick-upposition of the component mounting mechanism (described later). A Y-axismovement table 6 is disposed on the top surface of the base stage 1 a atone end in the X direction, and two X-axis movement tables 7 areattached to the Y-axis movement table 6 so as to be slidable in the Ydirection. A mounting head 8 is attached to each X-axis movement table 7so as to be slidable in the X direction.

Each mounting head 8, which is a multiple head that includes plural unitholding heads 9, picks up an electronic component P to be mounted from atape feeder 5 and holds it by vacuum absorption by means of a componentabsorption nozzle 14A (see FIG. 7A) that is attached to a nozzle holder9 a that is attached to the lower end of each unit holding head 9. TheY-axis movement table 6 and the X-axis movement tables 7 constitute ahead moving mechanism for moving the mounting heads 8.

By driving the head moving mechanism, each mounting head 8 is movedbetween the associated component supply unit 4 and a board 3 that hasbeen positioned by the board conveying mechanism 2. Each mounting head 8is lowered and elevated over the board 3, whereby the electroniccomponent P (see FIG. 7A) held by the mounting head 8 are mounted on theboard 3. The mounting heads 8 and the head moving mechanism for movingthe mounting heads 8 constitute a component mounting mechanism 17 (seeFIG. 8) for picking up components from the component supply units 4 andmounting them on a board 3.

A board recognition camera 10 is attached to the lower surface of eachX-axis movement table 7 so as to be moved together with the associatedmounting head 8. The board recognition camera 10 shoots a recognitionmark formed on a board 3 being held by the board conveying mechanism 2when moved to over the board 3 as the head moving mechanism is driven. Acomponent recognition camera 11, a first nozzle housing unit 12, and asecond nozzle housing unit 13 are disposed in the movement path of eachmounting head 8 between the associated component supply unit 4 and theboard conveying mechanism 2.

When a mounting head 8 that has picked up a component from the componentsupply unit 4 passes over the component recognition camera 11 in aprescribed direction (scan operation), the component recognition camera11 shoots the component being held by the mounting head 8. Pluralabsorption nozzles 14A corresponding to respective component types andto be attached to the nozzle holders 9 a of the unit holding heads 9 arehoused in the first nozzle housing unit 12. Absorption nozzles 14B (seeFIG. 7B) each of which is used being attached to the nozzle holder 9 aof a unit holding head 9 when a support pin module 22 shown in FIG. 6Ais moved are housed in the second nozzle housing unit 13. An absorptionnozzle attached to a unit holding head 9 can be replaced to one suitablefor a purpose or a target component type as a result of a nozzlereplacement operation that is performed by a mounting head 8 byaccessing the associated first nozzle housing unit 12 or second nozzlehousing unit 13.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B and FIGS. 3A and 3B, a descriptionwill be made of how a place where mounting work is performed with theboard conveying mechanism 2 of the electronic component mounting machine1, that is, a mounting stage where component mounting work is performedon a board 3 by the above-described component mounting mechanism, isformed. As shown in FIG. 2A, the board conveying mechanism 2 is equippedwith conveyor mechanisms 2 d which are disposed so as to extend in the Xdirection along the two conveyance rails 2 a. As shown in FIG. 2B, theconveyor mechanisms 2 d convey a board 3 in the X direction by means ofconveyance belts that are reciprocated in the horizontal direction by amotor 19.

In the board conveying mechanism 2, a mounting stage [S] having a lengthLo in the X direction is set in a movable range of each mounting head 8,that is, a working range in which component mounting by the componentmounting mechanism 17 is possible. The mounting stage [S] is providedwith a board holding unit for holding a board 3, and the board 3 issupported by the board support mechanism 2 c from the lower side. Theboard support mechanism 2 c is configured in such a manner that ahorizontal, plate-like support base 21 is elevated and lowered(indicated by arrow “a”) by an elevation mechanism 20. Pin modules 22(support pins) for supporting a board 3 from the lower side are erectedfrom the top surface of the support base 21.

The conveyance rails 2 a are provided with a first positioning sensor18A at a position corresponding to the downstream end of the mountingstage [S] and is also provided with a second positioning sensor 18B at aposition that corresponds to the upstream end of the mounting stage [S]and is distant upstream from the first positioning sensor 18A by adistance Lo. The first positioning sensor 18A and the second positioningsensor 18B, each of which is an optical sensor, detect that the head 3 cand the tail 3 d (see FIGS. 3A and 3B) of a board 3 that has beenconveyed by the conveyor mechanisms 2 d have reached the positions ofthe first positioning sensor 18A and the second positioning sensor 18Bwhen the head 3 c and the tail 3 d of the board 3 interrupt detectionlight beams of the first positioning sensor 18A and the secondpositioning sensor 18B, respectively.

Detection signals of the first positioning sensor 18A and the secondpositioning sensor 18B are transmitted to a control unit 40 (see FIG.8). The control unit 40 controls the motor 19 and the elevationmechanism 20 on the basis of the received control signals, whereby theboard 3 can be positioned at a prescribed position in the boardconveying mechanism 2 and the part, in the working range, of thepositioned board 3 can be held being supported from below. The firstpositioning sensor 18A, the second positioning sensor 18B, and the boardsupport mechanism 2 c constitute a board positioning mechanism forpositioning a board 3 at a first mounting work position or a secondmounting work position (described below) and holding it there.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a description will be made of boardpositioning done in a case that a board 3A (see FIG. 12) that is longerthan the length Lo of the mounting stage [S] is to be subjected tomounting work. To deal with a board 3A that is longer than the length Loof the mounting stage [S], first, as shown in FIG. 3A, the board 3 ispositioned at a position (first mounting work position) where its head 3c is located at the detection optical axis position of the firstpositioning sensor 18A. In this state, a sticking-out portion 3* havinga sticking-out length L* sticks out upstream from the mounting stage [S]and component mounting mechanism 17 cannot perform component mountingwork on the sticking-out portion 3*.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3B, the board 3A is moved downstream by theconveyor mechanisms 2 d (indicated by arrow “b”) and is positioned at aposition (second mounting work position) where its tail 3 d is locatedat the detection optical axis position of the second positioning sensor18B. As a result, in the state that the board 3A is positioned at thesecond mounting work position, the sticking-out portion 3* is includedin the range of the mounting stage [S] and hence can be subjected tocomponent mounting work of the component mounting mechanism 17. That is,in the embodiment, in the case where a board 3A is to be dealt with thatis longer than the working range in which component mounting work can beperformed by the component mounting mechanism 17, component mountingwork is performed plural times on the board 3A as it is positionedsuccessively at plural mounting work positions including at least thefirst mounting work position and the second mounting work position.

Next, referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a description will be made of theconfiguration and the functions of the board support mechanism 2 c whichis provided in the board conveying mechanism 2. As shown in FIGS. 2A and2B, the conveyor mechanisms 2 d are disposed inside the two conveyancerails 2 a which are part of the board conveying mechanism 2, so as toextend in the conveying direction. A board 3 is conveyed in the boardconveying direction by driving the conveyor mechanisms 2 d in a statethat two respective side end portions of the board 3 are in contact withthe top surfaces of the conveyor mechanisms 2 d. Clamp members 2 e forsupporting respective side end portions of a board 3 from below when theboard 3 is clamped by pressing their side end portions by from above bythe respective presser members 2 b are disposed inside the conveyormechanisms 2 d so as to be able to elevated and lowered because they arein contact with the support base 21.

The board support mechanism 2 c which is disposed at the center of theboard conveying mechanism 2 so as to correspond to the mounting stage[S] is configured in such a manner that the horizontal, plate-likesupport base 21 is elevated and lowered (indicated by arrow “c”) by theelevation mechanism 20. The pin modules 22 for supporting a board 3 fromthe lower side are erected from the top surface of the support base 21.In the embodiment, boards 3 to be supported include double-sidedmounting boards having first surface 3 a and second surface 3 b (frontsurface and back surface) which are both to be mounted with electroniccomponents.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example of such double-sided mounting boards. Inthis example, the first surface 3 a shown in FIG. 5A is to be mountedwith plural kinds of electronic components P (e.g., BGA components Pa,DIP components Pb, chip components Pc, etc.). The second surface 3 bshown in FIG. 5B is to be mounted with plural kinds of electroniccomponents P including a connector component Pd. When the first surface3 a is a mounting subject surface, the second surface 3 b is made asurface to be supported, and vice versa.

When the surface to be supported is an already mounted surface that hasbeen mounted with electronic components in a preceding process, it isnecessary to select a support pin arrangement that does not causeinterference with the support pin modules 22 taking positions of alreadymounted components on the already mounted surface into consideration. Tothis end, the embodiment employs such a configuration that the supportpin modules 22 can be placed at any positions on the support base 21.More specifically, the support base 21 has a structure that the topsurface of a plate member 21 b made of a non-magnetic material such asaluminum is coated with a magnetic material 21 a such as steel and thesupport pin modules 22 are placed at desired positions according tosupport positions of a board 3 to be supported.

Magnetic attractive force occurs between the magnetic material 21 a anda magnet member 27 (see FIG. 6B) that is provided in a base portion 23of each support pin module 22 being set in a support state, whereby thesupport pin module 22 is fixed to the support base 21. The entiresupport base 21 may be made of a magnetic material; it suffices that atleast a top layer of the support base 21 be made of a magnetic material.As shown in FIG. 4B in this state the support base 21 is elevated(indicated by arrow “d”) by driving the elevation mechanism 20, wherebythe top ends of the support pin modules 22 and the top ends of the clampmembers 2 e come into contact with the lower surface of the board 3. Theboard 3 is supported by the board support mechanism 2 c, and theposition of the board 3 is fixed because its two respective end portionsare pressed against the lower surfaces of the presser members 2 b.

Next, the structure and the functions of each support pin module 22 willbe described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. As shown in FIG. 6A,each support pin module 22 is configured in such a manner that a hollowshaft 24 extends upward from a base portion 23 which is in contact withthe support base 21. A top portion 25 which is attached to the top endof the shaft 24 has a contact portion 25 a which projects upward and isshaped like a narrow-diameter pin and an absorption brim 25 b whichextends laterally. The contact portion 25 a supports a board 3 with itstop end being in contact with the lower surface of the board 3. Asuction hole 24 a penetrates through the shaft 24 and communicates witha suction hole 25 c which penetrates through the contact portion 25 a inthe vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the base portion 23 is configured in such a mannerthat a lid member 23 b to which the shaft 24 is fixed is combined with abase portion body 23 a inside which a cylindrical elevation room 23 c isformed. A piston 26 to which a magnet member 27 is attached is fitted inthe elevation room 23 c so as to be slidable in the vertical direction.In an ordinary state, the piston 26 is located at the bottom in theelevation room 23 c and the base portion 23 is fixed to the magneticmaterial 21 a by the magnetic attractive force of the magnet member 27.

When vacuum suction is done through the suction hole 24 a of the shaft24, the piston 26 is elevated in the elevation room 23 c and thedistance between the lower surface of the magnet member 27 and the topsurface of the magnetic material 21 a is thereby increased. As a result,the magnetic attractive force acting between the magnet member 27 andthe magnetic material 21 a is weakened to a large extent, whereby thefixing of the base portion 23 to the support base 21 is canceled. Thatis, the support pin module 22 includes the base portion 23 whichcontacts the support base 21 provided in the board holding unit, and themagnet for fixing the support pin module 22 to the base 23 is providedin the base portion 23. Each support pin module 22 can thus be placed atany position on the support base 21.

FIG. 7A shows a state that an electronic component P is being mounted ona board 3 that is supported and held by the board support mechanism 2 c,by a mounting head 8 in which an absorption nozzle 14A is attached to anozzle holder 9 a. In this state, the top ends of the contact portions25 a of the support pin modules 22 support the board 3 from the lowerside. Even if the surface to be supported of the board 3 is an alreadymounted surface and is mounted with electronic components P, theabsorption brims 25 b and the contact portions 25 a are prevented frominterfering with the already mounted electronic components P by properlysetting the arrangement of the support pin modules 22 on the supportbase 21.

FIG. 7B shows an operation of moving a support pin module 22 that isplaced on the support base 21. In this operation, a mounting head 8 inwhich an absorption nozzle 14B is attached to a nozzle holder 9 a ismoved to over the support pin module 22 and vacuum suction is done withthe top portion 25 covered with the absorption nozzle 14B. As a result,the magnetic attractive force of the magnet member 27 acting between thebase portion 23 and the magnetic material 21 a in the structure shown inFIGS. 6A and 6B is weakened and the absorption nozzle 14B absorbs andholds the absorption brim 25 b. In this state, the support pin module 22is moved by moving the mounting head 8.

Next, referring to FIG. 8 to FIGS. 11A-11C, a description will be madeof the configuration of a control system of an electronic componentmounting system including the electronic component mounting machine 1and a support pin arrangement determination assisting function of theelectronic component mounting system. This function is to assist thedetermination of an arrangement of the support pin modules 22 whichsupport an already mounted surface of a board 3 from the lower side inthe board holding unit having the board support mechanism 2 c.

As shown in FIG. 8, the host system 15 is equipped with an overallcontrol unit 30, a storage unit 31, a pin image display processing unit32, an interference judging unit 33, an alarm processing unit 34, adisplay device 35, a manipulation/input unit 36, and a communicationunit 37. The overall control unit 30, which is a processing/computingdevice, supervises support pin arrangement determination assistanceprocessing work of the electronic component mounting machine 1 on thebasis of various programs and data stored in the storage unit 31.

In this processing work, as shown in FIG. 10A, an image indicatingshapes and an arrangement of electronic components P on a board 3 aredisplayed on a display screen 35 a of the display device 35 (displaymeans) such as a liquid crystal panel and an operator inputs desiredarrangement positions of the support pin modules 22 to the image throughthe manipulation/input unit 36 (position input unit) having a pointingdevice such as a mouse.

Images to be displayed on the display screen 35 a include a board image(first board image) indicating shapes and an arrangement of alreadymounted components on the already mounted surface of the board 3 a boardimage (second board image) indicating shapes and an arrangement ofcomponents to be mounted on the mounting subject surface. The reason whythe second board image is also displayed is that as described later acertain type of component to be mounted requires disposition of asupport pin module 22 to support it or its neighborhood from the lowerside during a mounting operation. The board image may be a camera imageacquired by shooting an actual board as well as an image that is basedon image data such as CAD data that is output at a designing stage.

Support pin arrangement data indicating determined arrangement positionsof the support pin modules 22 is transmitted from the communication unit37 to the electronic component mounting machine 1 over the communicationnetwork 16. In the electronic component mounting machine 1, the mountingheads 8 operate on the basis of the support pin arrangement data,whereby the support pin modules 22 are moved automatically on thesupport base 21 and a support pin arrangement suitable for the surfaceto be supported of the subject board 3 is realized.

The storage unit 31 stores mounting data 31 a, component data 31 b,support pin data 31 c, and board position data 31 d. The mounting data31 a is data that is necessary for a component mounting operation of themounting heads 8 such as types, mounting position coordinates, etc. ofelectronic components to be mounted on the board 3. The component data31 b is data relating to three-dimensional shapes (see FIG. 9A) andcomponent characteristics of electronic components to be mounted on theboard 3, and the component characteristics include a support necessitycharacteristic indicating whether or not the board needs to be supportedfrom the lower side for mounting the component on the mounting subjectsurface. The support pin data 31 c is data relating to athree-dimensional shape of the top portion 25 of each support pin module22.

The board position data 31 d is positioning control data to be used inthe case where the subject of mounting work is a board like the board 3Ashown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, that is, positioning control data to be usedfor positioning the board 3A at each of plural mounting work positions(in the example being described, a first mounting work position and asecond mounting work position) with respect to the mounting stage [S].By referring to the board position data 31 d, a board imagecorresponding to a state that the board 3A is positioned at each of theplural mounting work positions can be displayed.

The pin image display processing unit 32 performs processing fordisplaying to the display device 35 an image to be referred to by anoperator in inputting arrangement positions of the support pin modules22 on the support base 21. The pin image display processing unit 32 isequipped with processing functional units that are an image synthesizingunit 32 a and a display switching unit 32 b. The image synthesizing unit32 a performs processing of generating a composite image bysuperimposing, on a board image, a pin arrangement image that has beenproduced as a result of input via the manipulation/input unit 36 of pinarrangement positions by an operator.

One of a first board image indicating shapes and an arrangement ofalready mounted components on an already mounted surface and a secondboard image indicating shapes and an arrangement of components to bemounted on a mounting subject surface (see FIGS. 5A and 5B) can beselected as the board image. For example, if the first surface 3 a shownin FIG. 5A is an already mounted surface, the first surface 3 a is madethe first board image and the second surface 3 b shown in FIG. 5B ismade the second board image for a mounting subject surface. That is, thepin image display processing unit 32 displays, on the display device 35,a composite image produced by superimposing a pin arrangement imageindicating input arrangement positions on the first board image or thesecond board image.

FIG. 10B shows an example composite image produced by superimposing apin arrangement image on the first surface 3 a which is a first boardimage. An operator observes the first board image and inputs, using thepointing function of the manipulation/input unit 36, a pin arrangementthat allows the board 3 to be supported in a well-balanced manner anddoes not cause interference with the already mounted components. In thisexample, five points, that is, arrangement positions SP1-SP5, have beeninput, whereby position coordinates (xpi, ypi) of each arrangementposition SPi are taken in. In this example, the arrangement position SP5which is located at the center is interposed between two close, alreadymounted components and hence consideration should be given to whether ornot interference occurs between a support pin modules 22 and thesealready mounted components. In the embodiment, whether or not suchinterference occurs is judged automatically using the already storedshape data and position data and the input data of the arrangementpositions SP.

Referring to FIG. 9A, a description will now be made of a planar imageof each support pin module 22 in the above-mentioned pin arrangementimage. FIG. 9A which is a plan view shows a planar image in a state thatan already mounted surface of a board 3 is supported by a support pinmodule 22. This planar image includes an image of the top portion 25which is attached to a shaft 24 erected in the board holding unit and animage of the contact portion 25 a (the tip portion of the top portion25) which is smaller in sectional shape than the absorption brim 25 band is to support the board 3 by contacting its lower surface. In thisplanar image of the support pin module 22, an outline portion A and acentral portion B of the top portion 25 correspond to the absorptionbrim 25 b (outer circumference) and the contact portion 25 a of the topportion 25, respectively.

In displaying a composite image, the display switching unit 32 bperforms processing of displaying one of (i.e., switching between) acomposite image (see FIG. 10B) that is based on a first board image anda composite image (see FIG. 10C) that is based on a second board image.Since the first board image and the second board image are a back imageand a front image of the same board, in making this switching the firstboard image and the second board image are displayed so as to have amirror-image-like positional relationship by making image datainversion. This allows an operator to refer to a board image as would beseen as a plan view when a board 3 is actually positioned with respectto the mounting stage [S].

In a case in which the second image 3B shown in FIG. 5B is a mountingsubject surface, since it includes the connector component Pd as acomponent to be mounted, it is necessary to determine a pin arrangementtaking the position of the connector component Pd into consideration.That is, since in mounting, on the board 3, the connector component Pdwhich is a fitting component it needs to be pressed against the board 3with a larger load than an ordinary surface mounting component is, it isdesirable to support the connector component Pd or its neighborhood fromthe lower side to prevent warp deformation of the board 3.

In the embodiment, as described above, each electronic component thatneeds to be supported from the opposite surface side during a mountingoperation is determined in advance and a related description is made inthe component data 31 b as one item of its component characteristics. Ifan electronic component that needs to be supported exists for a mountingsubject surface, the pin image display processing unit 32 causes displayof a second board image that indicates shapes and an arrangement ofcomponents to be mounted on the mounting subject surface. That is, thepin image display processing unit 32 a composite image that is based onthe second board image on the display device 35 on the basis of supportnecessity that is described in the data relating to componentcharacteristics that are included in the component data 31 b.

FIG. 10C shows an example that a second board image that is an image ofthe second surface 3 b is displayed on the display screen 35 a in placeof a first board image. In this example, the second surface 3 b has theconnector component Pd that is described as a support-necessarycomponent in the component data 31 b. Therefore, an operator observesthe second board image and selects a position that is in the region ofthe connector component Pd and its neighborhood and is suitable forsupport of the board 3, that is, a position that does not causeinterference with any already mounted components in the first surface 3a. In this example, an arrangement position SP6 is input that is in thevicinity of the connector component Pd and bears no already mountedcomponent on the first surface 3 a.

In this work, since both of the first surface 3 a and the second surface3 b need to be observed, there may occur a case that front/backinversion needs to be made plural times repeatedly. In this case,switching can be made between the first board surface and the secondboard surface with desired timing by the function of the displayswitching unit 32 b by manipulating a front/back inversion button 35 bdisplayed on the display screen 35 a.

The interference judging unit 33 judges whether or not some of thesupport pin modules 22 for which arrangement positions have been inputinterfere with already mounted components existing on the surface to besupported on the basis of the three-dimensional shape data of theelectronic components included in the component data 31 b and thethree-dimensional shape data, included in the support pin data 31 c, ofthe contact portion of the support pin module 22, that is, the topportion 25 that is to come into contact with the surface to be supportedof the board 3.

FIG. 9A shows examples of three-dimensional shape data of electroniccomponents and the top portion 25. More specifically, stored as part ofthe component data 31 b are (a1, b1, c1), (a2, b2, c21), . . . thatrepresent dimensions in the X, Y, and Z directions of electroniccomponents P1, P2, . . . to be mounted on the board 3. Stored as thesupport pin data 31 c are (d1, d2, d3) that represent dimensions of thetop portion 25 of the support pin module 22, that is, the diameter ofthe absorption brim 25 b, the diameter and the length of the contactportion 25 a.

Positions of already mounted electronic components P1, P2, . . . on thealready mounted surface are given by sets of mounting coordinates (x1,y1), (x2, y2), . . . that are stored as part of the mounting data 31 a.An arrangement position SP (xp, yp) where a support pin module 22 is tobe placed is input performing a manipulation on a picture displayed onthe display screen 35 a using the manipulation/input unit 36. Theinterference judging unit 33 judges whether or not positionalinterference occurs between the top portion 25 and the electroniccomponents P1, P2, . . . on the basis of those three-dimensional shapedata and position data.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9B, since as for the relationship betweenan electronic component P1 and the top portion 25 the dimension c1 islarger than d3, a judgment “no interference” is made unless the outersurface of the electronic component P1 is located inside a firstinterference region R1 that is defined by the arrangement position SP(xp, yp) and the diameter d1 of the absorption brim 25 b. As shown inFIG. 9C, since as for the relationship between an electronic componentP2 and the top portion 25 the dimension c3 is smaller than d3, ajudgment “no interference” is made unless the outer surface of theelectronic component P2 is located inside a second interference regionR2 that is defined by the diameter d1 of the absorption brim 25 b evenif the outer surface of the electronic component P1 is located insidethe first interference region R1 which is defined by the arrangementposition SP (xp, yp) and the diameter d1 of the absorption brim 25 b.That is, the interference judging unit 33 judgesoccurrence/non-occurrence of three-dimensional positional interferencebetween already mounted components such as the electronic components P1and P2 and the contact portion 25 a in the region between an outlineportion A and a central portion B.

If the interference judging unit 33 judges that there is occurrence ofinterference, the alarm processing unit 34 performs processing ofdisplaying an alarm picture for announcing that fact on the displaydevice 35. Recognizing the alarm picture, the operator changes thearrangement position SP (xp, yp). With the above processing, even in acase that the surface to be supported is an already mounted surface thatis mounted with electronic components at a high density,occurrence/non-occurrence of interference can be judged more preciselyand a support pin arrangement can be realized with higher accuracy. Thealarm processing unit 34 and the display device 35 constitute analarming means for announcing a judgment result “occurrence ofinterference” using the display device 35 upon that judgment is made.

In a case in which the mounting subject board is of such a kind as to bepositioned at plural mounting work positions (in the example beingdescribed, the first mounting work position and the second mounting workposition) with respect to the mounting stage [S] like the board 3A shownin FIGS. 3A and 3B, the pin image display processing unit 32 performsthe following processing. In this case, different portions of the sameboard 35A are supported by the plural support pin modules 22 that arearranged on the support base 21 in advance. Therefore, it is necessaryto determine arrangement positions so that the support pin modules 22can support the board 3A properly irrespective of whether the board 3Ais positioned at the first mounting work position or the second mountingwork position. To this end, the pin image display processing unit 32causes display, as superimposed on each board image, of a pinarrangement image produced with an assumption that the board 3A ispositioned at each of the first mounting work position and the secondmounting work position. The operator adjusts the pin arrangementpositions so as to prevent interference with the already mountedcomponents in either state.

In the example being described, as shown in FIG. 11A, a board image ofthe board 3A is displayed on the display screen 35 a of the displaydevice 35. Subsequently, in a state that the board is positioned at thefirst mounting work position, arrangement positions SP (in this example,five arrangement positions SP1-SP5) for support of a mounting area(i.e., an area excluding a sticking-out portion 3* having a sticking-outlength L*) occupying the mounting stage [S] are selected and input usingthe manipulation/input unit 36. A composite image shown in FIG. 11B isgenerated by superimposing an image of the input arrangement positions(first pin arrangement image) on the board image and displayed on thedisplay screen 35 a.

Although an arrangement position SP3 in the first pin arrangement imagethat corresponds to the first mounting work position does not causeinterference with any already mounted components, it may causeinterference with an already mounted component P in a second pinarrangement image (described below). In view of this, in inputting thearrangement position SP3, the operator selects a proper position takinginto consideration interference with the already mounted electroniccomponent P in the second pin arrangement image.

Then a composite image is generated by superimposing, on a board image,a second pin arrangement image produced with an assumption that theboard 3A is positioned at the second mounting work position, and isdisplayed on the display screen 35 a. That is, as shown in FIG. 11C, asecond pin arrangement image is generated so as to be superimposed onthe image of the input arrangement positions (first pin arrangementimage) and a board image of the board 3A as moved to the second mountingwork position on the basis of the board position data 31 d so that thesticking-out portion 3* that was outside the mounting area when theboard 3A was located at the first mounting work position is completelyincluded in the mounting stage [S].

In other words, a second pin arrangement image is generated on the basisof the first mounting work position and the second mounting workposition (the positioned positions of the board 3A) that are stored asthe board position data 31 d in advance and the image of the inputarrangement positions (first pin arrangement image), and a compositeimage produced by superimposing both of the first pin arrangement imageand the second pin arrangement image on the board image is displayed. Byobserving the thus-generated composite image, the operator can confirmthat even in the state that the board 3A is moved to the second mountingwork position a proper board support state can be realized that does notcause interference between the already mounted components and thesupport pin modules 22 arranged on the support base 21.

In displaying the above composite image, it is desirable that the planarimages of the support pins that indicate the arrangement positions SP(i.e., first pin arrangement image and second pin arrangement image) bedisplayed in different colors or using different figures to enablediscrimination between the sets of support pins corresponding to therespective pin arrangements. In the example shown in FIGS. 11A-11C, thearrangement positions SP1-SP5 in the first pin arrangement image shownin FIG. 11A are shown by symbols having central portions B (see FIGS.9A-9C) drawn as black circles, and those in the second pin arrangementimage shown in FIG. 11B are shown by symbols having central portions Bdrawn as white circles to facilitate discrimination between the two setsof arrangement positions SP1-SP5. This makes it possible to prevent anevent that an arrangement position is selected erroneously, that is, thepin arrangement concerned is mistaken as one corresponding to a wrongmounting work position in selection of the arrangement positions. Thus,in the embodiment, a planar image of support pins in a first pinarrangement image and a planar image of support pins in a second pinarrangement image are displayed in different display forms.

That is, in the embodiment, in a case in which the above-described typeof board 3A is a work subject board, the pin image display processingunit 32 performs processing of causing the display device 35 to displaya composite image (see FIG. 11B or 11C) produced by superimposing, on aboard image corresponding to the mounting area of each mounting workposition, a first pin arrangement image of which arrangement positionshave been input in a state that the board 3A is positioned at the firstmounting work position and a second pin arrangement image generated onthe basis of the first pin arrangement image with an assumption that theboard 3A is positioned at the second mounting work position.

The electronic component mounting machine 1 is equipped with the controlunit 40, a storage unit 41, a recognition processing unit 42, a displayunit 43, a manipulation/input unit 44, and a communication unit 45. Thecontrol unit 40, which is a processing/computing device, controls theoperations of the board conveying mechanism 2, the component supplyunits 4, and the component mounting mechanism 17 on the basis ofoperation programs and mounting data stored in the storage unit 41. Therecognition processing unit 42 performs recognition processing onshooting results of the board recognition cameras 10 and the componentrecognition cameras 11. The display unit 43, which is a display panelsuch as a liquid crystal panel, displays guide pictures for manipulationof the manipulation/input unit 44 and various announcement pictures. Thecommunication unit 45 exchanges signals with the host system 15 andother machines via the communication network 16.

In the above configuration, the overall control unit 30, the storageunit 31, the pin image display processing unit 32, the interferencejudging unit 33, the alarm processing unit 34, the display device 35,and the manipulation/input unit 36 constitute a support pin arrangementdetermination assisting apparatus for assisting the determination of anarrangement of support pins that support the already mounted surface ofa board 3 or 3A from the lower side in the board holding unit of theelectronic component mounting machine 1. Although the embodiment isdirected to the example configuration in which the support pinarrangement determination assisting function is provided in a board 3,this function may be performed by the control processing function of theelectronic component mounting machine 1.

A support pin arrangement determination assisting method for assistingthe determination of an arrangement of support pins using the supportpin arrangement determination assisting apparatus having the aboveconfiguration will now be described with reference to the relateddrawings according to a flowchart of FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12,first, an image for pin arrangement determination including a boardimage is displayed on the display screen 35 a (display step, ST1). Morespecifically, in a case in which a board 3 having an ordinary size is tobe dealt with, a board image like the first surface 3 a shown in FIG.10A is displayed on the display screen 35 a. In a case in which a board3A is to be dealt with that needs to be subjected to mounting workplural times while being positioned successively at plural mounting workpositions including at least a first mounting work position and a secondmounting work position, a board image like the one shown in FIG. 11A isdisplayed on the display screen 35 a.

Then arrangement positions SP of support pin modules 22 are input to thedisplayed image using the pointing function of the manipulation/inputunit 36 (position input step, ST2). More specifically, as shown in FIGS.10B and 11B, an operator selects and inputs arrangement positionsSP1-SP5 that are suitable for supporting while observing the shapes andarrangement of already mounted components on the already mounted surfaceto be supported. In this example, the support pin modules 22 can beplaced at any positions on the support base 21.

Then a composite image is generated in which a pin arrangement imageindicating the arrangement positions SP is superimposed on the boardimage (ST3) and the generated composite image is displayed on thedisplay screen 35 a (pin image display processing step, ST4). The planarimage of each support pin module 22 shown in this composite imageincludes the images of the absorption brim 25 b and the contact portion25 a of the top portion 25 shown in FIGS. 9A-9C, which makes it possibleto judges occurrence/non-occurrence of interference between the topportions 25 and the already mounted components on the composite image.

In a case in which the board 3A is to be dealt with, as shown in FIGS.11B and 11C, a composite image produced by superimposing both of a firstpin arrangement image and a second pin arrangement image on each boardimage is displayed. The first pin arrangement image is generated byinputting arrangement positions in a state that the board 3A ispositioned at the first mounting work position. The second pinarrangement image is generated on the basis of the first pin arrangementimage and the first mounting work position and the second mounting workposition (the positioned positions of the board 3A) stored as the boardposition data 31 d in advance with an assumption that the board 3A ispositioned at the second mounting work position.

By referring to the board position data 31 d, whether or not themounting components of the mounting subject surface include a componentthat needs to be supported during a mounting operation is judged on thebasis of the support necessity characteristics that are described in thedata relating to the component characteristics that is included in theboard position data 31 d (ST5). If like the board 3 shown in FIGS.10A-10C the mounting subject surface has a connector component Pd thatneeds to be supported because it will receive a pressing load during amounting operation, the two surfaces, that is, the already mountedsurface and the mounting subject surface, are displayed in a switchedmanner (ST6). Thus, switching is made from display as shown in FIG. 10Bthat is directed to the already mounted surface to display as shown inFIG. 10C that is directed to the mounting subject surface. The operatoradditionally inputs an arrangement position for the connector componentPd.

If no component that needs to be supported is found at step ST5 or stepST6 has been executed, occurrence/non-occurrence of interference betweenthe support pins and the already mounted components is judged(interference judging step, ST7). More specifically, by referring to thecomponent data 31 b and the support pin data 31 c, the interferencejudging unit 33 judges whether or not one or some of the support pinmodules 22 of which arrangement positions have been input interfere withan already mounted component(s) on the basis of the three-dimensionalshape data of the electronic components that is part of the componentdata 31 b stored in advance and the three-dimensional shape data of thecontact portion 25 a of the support pin module 22 that is indicated bythe support pin data 31 c (see FIGS. 9A-9C).

If a judgment “occurrence of interference” is made at step ST7, theannouncing means announces that fact in the form of, for example,display on the display device 35 (alarm step, ST8). The process returnsto step ST2, in which the arrangement position concerned is corrected toeliminate the interference. Then a judgment “no interference” is made atstep ST7, whereby the support pin arrangement is finalized (ST9). Thus,the support pin arrangement determination assisting process is finished.

As described above, in the support pin arrangement determinationassistance according to the embodiment, in determining an arrangement ofthe support pin modules 22 for supporting an already mounted surface ofa board 3 from the lower side in the board holding unit, the procedureis followed which includes displaying an image including a board imagethat indicates shapes and an arrangement of already mounted componentson the already mounted surface, causing input of arrangement positionsof the support pin modules 22 to the displayed image, and displaying acomposite image in which a pin arrangement image indicating the inputarrangement positions is superimposed on the board image. And a planarimage of each support pin module 22 in the pin arrangement imageincludes an image of the top portion 25 and an image of the contactportion 25 a for contacting and supporting the lower surface of theboard 3. As a result, in support pin arrangement determining work for ahigh mounting density board 3, occurrence/non-occurrence of interferencebetween the support pins and the already mounted components can bejudged more precisely.

In the pin image display processing of displaying images including afirst board image indicating an already mounted surface and a secondboard image indicating a mounting subject surface and displaying acomposite image in which a pin arrangement image obtained by inputtingarrangement positions of the support pin modules 22 to the displayedimages is superimposed on a first board image or a second board image, acomposite image based on the first board image and a composite imagebased on the second board image are displayed in a switched manner. Thismakes it possible to set a proper support pin arrangement in which anarrangement position of a component that exists on the mounting subjectsurface and needs to be supported is also taken into consideration.

Furthermore, in a case in which the subject board is a board 3A that isto be subjected to plural times of mounting work while being positionedsuccessively at plural mounting work positions, a composite image isdisplayed that is produced by superimposing, on each board image, afirst pin arrangement image of which arrangement positions have beeninput in a state that the board 3A is positioned at the first mountingwork position and a second pin arrangement image generated on the basisof the first pin arrangement image with an assumption that the board 3Ais positioned at the second mounting work position. This makes itpossible to simplify the work of determining a common support pinarrangement for the plural mounting work positions.

The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No.2013-015079 and No. 2013-015080 both filed on Jan. 30, 2013 and No.2013-016523 filed on Jan. 31, 2013, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The support pin arrangement determination assisting apparatus and thesupport pin arrangement determination assisting method according to theinvention provide the advantage that occurrence/non-occurrence ofinterference between support pint and already mounted components can bejudged more precisely in support pin arrangement work that is performedon a high mounting density board, and are useful in the field ofelectronic component mounting for mounting electronic components on aboard that is supported by support pins.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE SIGNS

-   1: Electronic Component Mounting Machine-   2: Board Conveying Mechanism-   2 c: Board Support Mechanism-   3, 3A: Board-   8: Mounting Head-   21: Support Base-   22: Support Pin Module-   23: Base Portion-   24: Shaft-   25: Top Portion-   25 a: Contact Portion-   27: Magnet Member

1. A support pin arrangement determination assisting apparatus whichassists determination of an arrangement of a support pin that supports aboard from a lower side in a board holding unit of an electroniccomponent mounting machine, said support pin arrangement determinationassisting apparatus comprising: a display unit which displays an imageincluding a board image, the board image including a shape data; aposition input unit through which an arrangement position of the supportpin is input to the displayed image; and a pin image display processingunit which causes the display unit to display a composite image in whicha pin arrangement image indicating the input arrangement position issuperimposed on the board image, wherein the pin arrangement imageincludes an image of a top portion of the support pin and an image of acontact portion of the support pin which is located on a tip side of thetop portion, the contact portion has a sectional shape smaller than thatof the top portion, and the contact portion contacts and supports alower surface of the board.
 2. The support pin arrangement determinationassisting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support pincomprises a base portion which contacts a support base provided in theboard holding unit, and a magnet for fixing of the support pin isprovided in the base portion, and wherein the support pin is allowed tobe placed at any positions on the support base.
 3. The support pinarrangement determination assisting apparatus according to claim 1,wherein an outline portion and a central portion in the planar image ofthe support pin corresponds to an outer circumference of the top portionand the contact portion, respectively.
 4. The support pin arrangementdetermination assisting apparatus according to claim 3, furthercomprising: a storage unit which stores three-dimensional shape data ofan electronic component and three-dimensional shape data of the contactportion of the support pin; an interference judging unit which judgeswhether or not one or some of the support pins of which arrangementpositions have been input interfere with the already mounted componenton the basis of the three-dimensional shape data of the electroniccomponent and the three-dimensional shape data of the contact portion;and an alarm unit which announces occurrence of interference if theinterference judging unit judges that there is the occurrence ofinterference, wherein the interference judging unit judges occurrence ornon-occurrence of three-dimensional interference between the contactportion and an already mounted component located in a region between theoutline portion and the central portion.
 5. The support pin arrangementdetermination assisting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theboard image is created based on image data that is output at a designingstage.
 6. The support pin arrangement determination assisting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the pin arrangement image includes a firstboard image indicating the already mounted surface and a second boardimage indicating a mounting subject surface on the support plateopposite to the first board.